after four years of drought, our dams are nearly empty and the Premier of our state is wondering how to continue to provuide drinking water to us sydneysiders. so it finally starts to rain. and rain. and rain. and rain. It is coming down in troughloads outside as I write, pouring off the gutters and drenching the street. there are floods further north and a gale warning has been issued. The wind is coming up now - its getting wilder and wilder - imagine a huge drenching downpour, and then triple it!

this is typical in this part of australia - its all or nothing - long harsh months and years of unremitting heat and drought, and then a maniacal downpour leading to flooding, trees coming down, cars being tossed along flooded road (two deaths already)...

Beginning of winter officially in Australia, but our winters in Sydney are quite mild compared to lots of places in the world. Lately it's been fine and sunny every day with temperatures getting up to 17-20 degrees C during the day and down to 3-5 in my particular part of Sydney at night. Everybody I know has colds - me included - the day starts to cool off quite suddenly from about 3pm and you can find yourself breathing cold air before you know it. It's also been very dry - we are still very much in drought conditions - the water level in our main supply dam has fallen below 40% for the first time in a long time, and they have just brought in more severe water restrictions.

I'm actually enjoying this weather at the moment. If you can find yourself a sunny spot in the middle of the day, it is very pleasant, and a good time to be gardening because it is not too hot and humid, like it is in summer. Some seeds from the tomato plants from summer decided to germinate where they fell, and they looked quite healthy, so we decided to give them a little bit of protection by building a sort of green house over them, made of clear plastic on a frame. One of the plants has even set some little tomatoes, so we'll see how that goes. The soil temperature is going to drop, but a blanket of mulch might help. The space is 8ft square and sloping on top - big enough to walk in. I'm going to try a few other plants in there too. It will be an interesting experiment anyway.

Well, in Juneau Alaska, the sun is shining as it has for the last few days. This is the time of year that our days get really long and bedtime can slip right on by. It's the only place I've ever lived where perfectly good parents suddenly realize that it's almost 1:00 AM and their kids are not in bed yet.

I don't think we've hit 70F yet this year but I know it's been 68 a couple of times. That's good and warm, I can tell you.

It's scary to think about but we may have a VERY early fall. From my third floor window, looking down on a number of trees I can see that the top branches of the maple trees are yellowing. And these are NOT Japanese maples...

May was wet and cold here in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Had to shut my windows every night. Then, May 30, it didn't rain. May 31, the sun peeked out. Yesterday was sunny and I had my windows open all day and night... warm and a nice breeze. Today, I shut my windows at 10:00h. 33C at 17:00h!! Mom nature sure is a moody bitch!

I agree with Laura. The snow here is not nearly good enough. No chance of classes being canceled because of it. At least living in California it didn't get cold, now I'm in Edinburgh and it's cold but not snowy. Snowed this evening, but it didn't stick, and now it's all gone. And rain and hail, which are not nearly as nice as snow. The best snow I've ever seen was last week when it snowed and it stuck (first time!) and it was like an inch deep. Now that was exciting.

Snowy. but pathetically. and it won't stick properly cos the ground is too wet. Bloody loser snow. If it snowed PROPERLY we could have time off college! Damnit - why don't I live in Kent? Or Yorkshire?

Stupid Somerset Snow. pfff.

You know - the only snow I've ever seen - proper snow I mean, was in Leicester a few years ago. Six inches of dry powdery proper snow. Six inches! that's pathetic - some people get six feet! And down here we're lucky to get six millemetres!

Metch... the big bump. Minds me of the time I was in Springhill, Nova Scotia so many years ago on a history field trip in High School. We went underground and an elderly miner was telling us that coal "bumps" and noises were regular and welcome.... it was when it grew silent that the miners got nervous.... of course, his voice trailed off and we were left to listen to absolutely nothing but our own fears and heartbeats. At that moment, I picked up a large lump of coal and flung it upside a large wooden coal bin. Beth Rothwell screamed, pissed her pants and ran back up the ramp, along with several others. I had to admit to the prank before the teacher would continue our trip and I spent a great deal of time writing "The Mining History of the Maritimes" as punishment. It was worth it.

Not weather, but maybe I should explain, we have had a series of earthquakes off the west coast of the Island here for the past day or so, little ones, 4.5, 5.2 etc., a step up in the usual stuff, which is good in some ways, because it relieves the pressure where the plate dives down under the Island.

The bad part is all the quakes are at the north end of the Juan de Fuca Ridge and the south end is doing nothing and has been doing nothing for years and it is believed that our end is hung up and it is hung up right below where I live and so any change in activity comes up on my personal radar screen.

Snow!....I scoff at snow! But I tend to hang on a bit when I contemplate the BIG BUMP. The only thing that gives me a bit of comfort is that this Island was up, even when Alberta was an inland surrounded by dinosaurs.

"... the Japanese plum and cherry in full bloom." The birds here are so hungry they are eating the apples still clung to my mother's apple tree.... FROZEN SOLID IN THE DAMN SNOWSTORM!!! Here's the world's tiniest mandolin, playing just for Metchsin. Can you hear it? No, of course not, because the snowplow is too loud! You're just lucky I can't throw that far Metch... of course, the snowballs would melt by the time they got that far. Hmmm, frozen apples?

We've just had the sunniest February here since they started keeping records about 100 years ago. Temperatures between 10C and 15C during the day and the Japanese plum and cherry in full bloom. Grey and a bit of drizzle on and off today, about 9C and the power went out for about an hour for no apparent reason but, other than the rumbling of the Juan de Fuca Plate, all seems to be well on the west coast of Canada.

We've had a little bit of snow today. It seems to have stopped now and the snow plough's been round, as has our lovely neighhbour with his snow blower. The dog insisted on a walk in the snow this morning, but that's the only time I'm going out today!

Not bad now. It was clear at 07:30h with very little wind. When I went to my dentist at 08:30h it was snowing hard. When I left the dentist at 09:30h, the first thing I heard on the radio was a call for people to stay off the roads and I was thinking, "Good idea." I popped into the powerhouse along the way and picked up some Buddies. I had to drop 'er in cat-putt-cat (dat's Shaques dere Amos) to get back on the road. Near a white out on the causeway across the Peticodiac River. Then, I had to go to Sobey's for watermelon for Mum, just to brighten her day house-bound in the storm. Played in the near-empty parking lot and scared the crap out of a couple of Toyotas. Slid over to the local convenience store for smokes and a chat. Got home just in time to beat the snowplow. Now it's letting up. Expecting ice pellets (modern for sleet) and then rain. Sniff, fun's over. Now I've got two driveways to do.

Here in Vermont it is wet and rainy, on top of snow this is sometimes interesting. Hope my brother got home from dinner ok tonight, the back roads tend to turn into bobsled hills. I want snow!!!!!! (whine whine)

Ebbie... excellent ! Number 6... there's several of us and there's several more who seldom post. I can't recall names right off the top of my head because I haven't been around the neighbourhood for close to a year. If you're curious, start a thread. Hmmmm, I'm curious to see who's still around.... look for an Atlantic Canada thread.

The same thing happens here, Bill D. I have literally mowed in the rain. But mostly I just set the mower as low as it will go so that most of the time the lawns can go much longer than the scheduled time. Darn sure it's not going to kill the grass. In our cool, moist climate not much of anything dies.

In the winter it's raining; the clouds are dark and low It's the normal condition - everybody wants it so With snow-covered mountains, the valleys wet below In Southeast Alaska we have more rain than snow

In Spring, the clouds are heavy with impending change Fog and hail, brief sun and wind, we go all the range There is no predicting, but always - or in the main- In Southeast Alaska, in Spring there is rain

Ah but in the summer, the misty air's serene Clothes damp-dry on the line, the grass is cool and green But hang your coat by the fire lest you go out again In Southeast Alaska, Summer brings rain.

In Autumn the storms return, dark clouds are in the sky Wind strips leaves from all the trees and sends them flying high Galoshes slosh and waters rush. A familiar refrain: In Southeast Alaska, it's raining. Again.

We're a special kind of people who live here, don't you know We've made our peace with weathe (with rain, not with snow) So we take pride in saying- though it may cause some pain- This is Southeast Alaska. Bring on the rain.